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Objective-C had always been the core of iOS mobile app development. iOS developers were habituated with the language that consisted of an object-oriented superset of the C programming language. However, Apple launched Swift in 2014, and it changed the game of iOS app development .
Apple developers designed Swift in such a way that it is compatible with all existing iOS development tools such as Objective-C, XCode, and the Cocoa framework. Ease of use and enhanced features have made Swift replace Objective-C in iOS mobile app development.
Yet, people get confused in deciding between Swift and Objective-C while planning their next iOS project. Let us take a look at the significant differences between these two technologies.
Swift is an open-source language that is easy to use and simple to understand. Today, speed has taken a crucial place in the mobile app development industry. The emergence of Swift has increased the significance of speed and covered the loopholes that existed previously. It has been proved in 2015 that XCode 6.3 beta has enhanced the performance of the GEMM algorithm.
Objective-C consisted of nil pointer variables that led the expression to no-operation mode. It resulted in the crashing of the application. However, this trouble has been solved by Swift. Yes, you read that right. While designing this technology, safety has been considered at its core. Therefore, whenever there is bad or poor coding, it produces a compiler error. Thus, you can solve all the bugs that arise during the testing time while developing the app.
Objective-C has one of the significant issues, known as Automatic Reference Counting (ARC). It is supported by object-oriented code and the Cocoa API. However, there is no code available for procedural C and APIs like Core Graphics. As a result, there is massive leakage of memory.
With the emergence of Swift, the problem mentioned above is solved effectively with the help of object-oriented and procedural code paths. Hence, developers can concentrate on the features and logic of the app instead of worrying about memory management.
The simple syntax of Swift has added immensely to its increasing popularity. Thus, it becomes easy to read and write the code. On the contrary, Objective-C consists of special symbols like semicolons, parentheses, and more to use in statements. On the other hand, Swift uses a comma to separate parameters within parentheses. It makes the language simple to understand.
Moreover, due to its simple syntax, Swift requires writing fewer code strings when compared to Objective-C. As a result, it eliminates additional errors, which, in turn, keeps the code neater. Hence, it also reduces developers’ time of completing the task than in Objective-C.
Swift is written in English, which can be easily understood by coders. Moreover, they can use JavaScript, Python, C#, Java, and C++ with the pieces of code written in Swift, and further use them with the existing chains of tools.
Speed is fundamental to modern technologies, and Swift understands this requirement very well. The performance of this programming language is similar to that of C++ for Mandelbrot and FFT algorithms. It is to be noted that in 2015, XCode 6.3 beta enhanced the performance of the GEMM algorithm.
Swift is still in its growing stage, and it is possible to witness more enhancements to the programming language. It is a rapidly developing language, which adds to its popularity.
Along with the rapidly developing language, Swift allows updating the apps with the arrival of the new version. It is because it consists of dynamic libraries and iOS 8. They allow linking the coding fragments directly to the application.
As a result, you can keep your project intact and updated, along with reducing the primary size of the application. Additionally, it also quickens the load of external libraries and reduces the loading time of the new content.
As we mentioned above, Swift is not capable of using C++ libraries in app development.
One of the biggest drawbacks of Swift is the changes and migrations related to the programming language. However, it has improved a lot after the emergence of ABI stability. Continuous changes in the language had been an issue earlier. Due to this, developers had to switch to new versions. As a result, it cost them money as well as time.
Objective-C was widely used in iOS app development before the emergence of Swift. However, experts forecast that the programming language will not undergo frequent updates. It is because Swift brought solutions to all those problems that existed in Objective-C. However, it has adopted a few features from Swift, but it will not reach that edge-cutting stage.
Objective-C has been in existence for ages, and it has significantly contributed to iOS app development. It means developers have used it to write millions of codes till today. Thus, it has made its remarkable place in the app world.
Objective-C supports Binary frameworks, which has one of the main reasons for its stability.
Stability is the main benefit of using Objective-C, as you are not required to make any extra expense of migrating the app to a new language after a specific period.
Objective-C offers the feature of Dynamic Tapping, which makes the coding more flexible. Thus, it allows developers to make the changes required during the development stage.
Objective-C consists of a superset of C language, which means that it works flawlessly with both C++ and C codes.
Objective-C has a difficult syntax, which means that beginners may find it hard to learn the language. Thus, coding complexity is one of the major drawbacks of the language.
When it comes to maintenance, Objective-C is difficult compared to Swift. In this case, developers might require to manage two separate files.
With new languages emerging in the market, many developers are reluctant to learn this programming language, which has become almost obsolete. They are keen on learning those new languages.
Objective C is considered to be an old language today. Hence, it is more prone to hacking or leakages.
As we discussed above, Objective-C has become a core of iOS apps. However, with new technologies and languages hitting the market, it is time to switch to Swift. It allows iOS programmers to handle any sort of changes that arise during the development with numerous updates.
